Background to this inspection
Updated
21 March 2020
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service provides care and support to people living in their own family homes and a supported living setting. For people living in a supported living setting, people’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living. This inspection looked at people’s personal care and support needs only.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the registered manager is often out of the office. We needed to be sure that they would be available. We visited the office location on 4 February 2020 and visited the supported living setting on 11 February 2020 to meet staff and people receiving a service.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
Some people could not verbally share their views of the service. Therefore, we observed people’s experiences of living at the supported living setting. This included interactions with staff. We spoke with five staff members including the registered and deputy managers, two support staff and the lifelong learning and quality of life champion.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and four people’s medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed. We also pathway tracked two people. This is where we check that the records for people match the care and support, they received from staff.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence we found. We looked at training and quality assurance records. We spoke with two relatives and four professionals who provided feedback on the service provided.
Updated
21 March 2020
About the service
My Personal Enablement Support Partnership Community Interest Company is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people living in their family homes. The agency is currently supporting five people. It also provides personal care and support to four people living in a supported living setting.
My Personal Enablement Support Partnership Community Interest Company provides personal care to adults who have complex care needs. They live with a learning disability and may have additional needs including autism and a mental health illness.
There is one office location where the service is co-ordinated from in Eastbourne. The supported living accommodation is in Brighton and enables people to live in their own home. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. One person lives in a self-contained flat and three people have individual rooms with some shared communal facilities. There are communal lounges and a shared open plan kitchen, dining room. Staff are available and work within the supported living accommodation over the 24 hours.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were protected against the risk of abuse or discrimination as staff had a good understanding of possible safeguarding issues and what to do. There were enough staff working to meet people’s support and emotional needs. This included arrangements to cover people that required two to one staffing support and extra staff to facilitate activities. Staff were recruited safely. Risk assessments were used to guide staff on keeping people safe. Medicines were handled safely by staff trained to do so.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff were trained, supported and developed to ensure they had the skills and competencies to support people effectively. The registered manager was committed to establishing a well-trained and resilient staff team. Staff worked with health and social care professionals and close family members to understand people’s need and ensure their health and well-being needs were met.
Staff were knowledgeable about and genuinely cared for the people they supported and wanted the best for them. One said, “I love working here, we focus on people and getting the best possible life for them in the way they want.” Staff had built trusting relationships with people and their relatives. They treated people with respect and ensured their privacy and rights were protected. People were involved in the planning of their support and staff worked with them to promote their independence.
Care and support was delivered in a person-centred way. Each person had their needs assessed with an emphasis on understanding what was important to them. In order to do this, relatives and professionals were involved in the assessment. Staff knew people well, understood their needs and how to communicate with them in an individual and meaningful way. People were supported to do things they enjoyed and made them happy. A complaints procedure was in place and people were listened to. Any concern was responded to with an emphasis on improving outcomes for people.
Feedback about the registered manager was positive from all contacts and they were held in high regard for their commitment and approach. They promoted an open, honest and inclusive culture, where everyone was valued and appreciated as individuals. Staff told us he was approachable and accessible, and relatives were impressed with his willingness to listen and work together for the benefit of people. The registered manager understood their responsibilities and monitored the quality outcomes for people.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The service was registered with the Care Quality Commission in March 2019 and this was their first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned comprehensive inspection, following the registration of the location.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.